Civil Servants Don't Get Vacations - 3
When something is always with you, no matter the time or place, you often fail to recognize how precious it truly is. Only after losing it do you finally understand just how rare and valuable it had been. A painfully heartbreaking realization.
Health is the classic example. Even in my twenties I was still in the prime of life, yet after wringing myself dry throughout my teens, I could feel my health slipping away with my own body. The consecutive blows of the Great Subjugation War and the internal purges had been far too harsh.
But thanks to the grace of a certain archmage unprecedented in continental history, I was rapidly reclaiming the health I had lost.
"Thank you, Demon Duke."
Lately my days began with a devout expression of gratitude toward the Demon Duke. She would never hear it, of course, yet how could someone who had received such kindness fail to offer even the smallest thanks? I may have black hair, but I am no beast.
Just one of those free, tiny, precious potions was enough to start the day more energized than ever. What could possibly make me happier? Truly, thank you, Demon Duke!
She really is incredible.
The first time I drank one I assumed it was a placebo. She said it was good, so I drank it believing it was good. Yet the more I took them, the more I genuinely felt their effects. Even at hours when I would normally be exhausted, my condition stayed razor-sharp, and I nearly wept with gratitude.
I had to fight down the urge to drink two or three bottles a day. In some bandit city they might claim excessive potion use actually strengthens the body, but in this world abusing potions only brings prolonged suffering. Doping may deliver instant results, yet in the end it ruins you.
"Master, may I come in?"
While I was still turning the empty bottle over in my hands, Yuris's voice came from outside the door. Damn, I had kept her waiting too long.
"Yeah. Come in."
I quickly smoothed back the hair that was about to be thoroughly ruffled by Yuris's hands. Today, just like yesterday, was another thrilling day of going to work.
The backlog of duties was never something a single day at the office could clear. I had finished every document the deputy chief brought yesterday and thought I was done, only to hear him say he would bring the next batch tomorrow—how shocked I had been.
Finishing everything in a single day would, in truth, be the mindset of a pure salary thief. If months of piled-up work could be handled in one day, I would be unnecessary to begin with. It would be more economical to just stick a doll in my chair.
You've got to be kidding me.
I had not meant that literally.
After receiving Yuris's cheerful send-off and arriving at work, I found a doll sitting in my seat. Worse, a portrait had been proudly stuck right where the face should be. What the hell were they doing with someone else's face?
When I shifted my gaze beside the doll, the First Section Chief stood with her arms crossed, looking thoroughly pleased with herself. The way she tilted her chin up was especially irritating.
"Explain this."
"I installed a new superior who actually cherishes his subordinates."
I pointed at the doll while suppressing both a sigh and a shout; the First Section Chief only answered more boldly, her expression growing even more infuriating. I had asked to clear up my confusion, so why was the confusion only deepening?
Had she lost her mind? Had one night of duty watch driven her completely insane? Maybe I really should just smack her once across the head.
While I wrestled with my inner violence, the First Section Chief hugged the doll and glared at me. For fuck's sake, at least take the portrait off.
"We don't need a wicked superior who torments his subordinates! Our Karl always loves his big sister!"
"She's completely lost it."
Calling her superior by name was something I absolutely could not tolerate. These people were already running wild enough; if they started using my name and informal speech, I would lose all control.
Names and informal speech were the Maginot Line I would never surrender. Even in the military before my transmigration, the moment a junior dropped formal speech with a senior, that senior became just another peer.
I strode toward the doll. The First Section Chief trembled but refused to release it from her embrace. What on earth had happened overnight to bring her to this state? Had duty watch really been that unfair?
"Stay back! I'll protect the Chief!"
"I'm going to kill the rival chief."
"N-no!"
I forcibly ripped the doll from the thrashing First Section Chief's arms. Ignoring her frantic muttering that it wasn't mine, that the Second Section Chief had made it, that I mustn't destroy it, I tore it apart starting from the neck.
Thus the rebellion of Audit Department Rival Chief Karl (sewn doll, six months since manufacture) was swiftly suppressed.
"Our Karl… I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you…"
"Cut the crap and take this."
I tossed an envelope at the First Section Chief, who was gathering the doll scraps with trembling hands. If I had known she would pull a stunt like this first thing in the morning, I never would have brought it.
She flung the scraps away, opened the envelope, checked the contents, and broke into a sheepish grin.
"Cake return gift. The Chef made it."
"Hehe, I'll enjoy it."
The First Section Chief pulled out a piece of bread and bit into it with a blissful expression. Leave it to her to have such dramatic emotional swings over the tiniest things.
Leaving her happily chewing, I kicked the torn doll pieces into a pile with my foot. Cake yesterday, a doll today. What tomorrow? Flowers, maybe? Receiving flowers would complete a perfect three-piece gift set—except everything arrived already torn to shreds.
"Chief, you're kicking up dust. Clean the trash later."
A moment ago she was apologizing for failing to protect it, and now this complete about-face. I had rarely met anyone as unhinged as her.
"…Fine."
Remembering the saying that even a dog shouldn't be touched while eating, I couldn't bring myself to raise a fist. Grow big and healthy, you damn dog of a First Section Chief. Eat plenty.
Fuck.
Without the potions the Demon Duke had given me, I would have grabbed the back of my neck and collapsed long ago.
Despite the minor uproar, time continued to flow. Leave that flow unattended and only more work piled up for me.
I drove the First Section Chief out now that her duty was finished, and the deputy chief immediately entered. He must have been waiting outside because the office had been so noisy. Sorry for showing you that bizarre scene.
After a slightly awkward exchange of glances with the deputy chief, I carefully opened my mouth.
"How much is left?"
"If you work just two more days, it will all be finished."
"That's a relief."
Satisfied with the answer, I scribbled signatures. Yesterday, today, tomorrow, the day after. Right—just four days of suffering. After four days of grinding, I wouldn't even need to show my face at the Audit Department for a while.
Moreover, no documents were being shoved at me with the claim that they absolutely had to be handled first, so there seemed to be no major incidents. Even the Border Count's request for a dispatch—the closest thing to a major case—had been processed yesterday, so nothing else required my attention.
—or so I thought, the moment the communication orb on my desk began to shine with a brilliant light.
"……."
"Chief."
"Yeah, I'd better answer."
The temptation to pretend I hadn't noticed flickered for an instant, but the deputy chief's voice snapped me back to reality and I took the orb in hand. Without him there I might actually have ignored it.
"This is the Audit Department Chief."
—This is the Minister of Special Affairs.
The moment the call connected, I was greeted by the Minister of Special Affairs' face, covered in stitched scars that looked like a centipede. No matter how many times I saw that face I never got used to it. He could heal those wounds, so why leave them? Some of us would erase our scars in a heartbeat if we could, and it drove us mad that we couldn't.
Still, unless the Emperor himself ordered them removed, that face would never change, so I let it go. Worrying about it would only tire me out.
"Yes, Your Excellency. What is the matter?"
—Come to my office. There is an urgent matter I must discuss with the Audit Department Chief.
"Understood."
—The Minister of Foreign Affairs is here as well, so I would prefer you hurry.
"Ah… yes."
The Minister of Special Affairs cut the connection after delivering his one-sided summons. Both the Minister of Special Affairs and the Minister of Foreign Affairs were present?
I don't want to go.
The most troublesome combination possible had gathered. If the daylight Foreign Ministry and the shadowy Special Affairs Ministry were uniting, what the hell had blown up?
I stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment, then forced my suddenly heavier body to its feet. I didn't want to go, but dealing with the consequences of ignoring a summons from two ministers would be even worse.
"I'm heading out."
"Please return safely."
The send-off that sounded almost like a prayer for me to come back alive left a slight sting in my chest.
As expected, when those two departments met, the matter was bound to be a headache.
"We received intelligence from the Holy Kingdom."
One look at the Foreign Minister speaking with an uncharacteristically grave expression confirmed it. I glanced sideways at the Minister of Special Affairs; he too stood with arms crossed, his face stiff and hard.
Even this guy looks like that?
His default appearance was already fearsome, and his expression rarely changed unless he was thoroughly pissed off.
"What happened to make you both look like this?"
"The Twilight Cult."
The Minister of Special Affairs, who had remained silent until my question, answered in a low voice. The Foreign Minister clicked his tongue, and I instinctively let out a sigh.
It wasn't merely troublesome. This was a filthy, goddamn major incident far beyond mere trouble.
"The Twilight Cult is heading for the Imperial Capital."
"Have those bastards gone insane?"
"Fanatics wouldn't be fanatics for nothing."
When he put it that way, I had nothing to say.
"While the Holy Kingdom was pursuing the Twilight Cult, they confirmed signs that the cult had entered the Empire."
This time the Foreign Minister continued. His complexion looked a little better than before, yet he kept wiping his forehead with a handkerchief, showing the mental strain still weighed heavily on him.
"Those vermin who hadn't shown their faces in the Empire for quite some time suddenly crossed the border."
"And their target is the Imperial Capital?"
"Indeed."
The Foreign Minister nodded calmly, yet his eyes were cursing everything under the sun. The Twilight Cult targeting the capital at this particular moment—their purpose was painfully obvious.
"Tanian Enes."
"Assassination is the goal, without question."
Tanian was currently staying at my mansion. With the dazzling title of Next Saint attached to him, he was a target on par with the Pope himself in the eyes of the Twilight Cult. If they could kill him, they would deal a devastating blow to the Dawn Church.
No matter how I looked at it, assassination was the only answer. Knowing full well that the Empire was already hunting them with bloodshot eyes, they had still crawled in—meaning they intended to take out a big fish with this infiltration.
"They dared to look down on the Empire."
A voice like a roaring beast came from beside me. For once I fully agreed with the Minister of Special Affairs.
Those sons of bitches.
How little must they think of the Empire to plan something like that?